


Crushed

by evilwriter37



Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: Emotional Recovery, M/M, Multi, Rape, Rape Aftermath, non-con
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-30
Updated: 2018-07-30
Packaged: 2019-06-18 23:28:14
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,345
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15497175
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/evilwriter37/pseuds/evilwriter37
Summary: The return of Thor Bonecrusher goes much worse for Snotlout than even he could think it would, and now he and Fishlegs have to deal with the emotional aftermath.





	Crushed

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ashleybenlove](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ashleybenlove/gifts).



Snotlout was confused when Fishlegs - no, Thor Bonecrusher - cut him loose from where he was tied to the ceiling of the cell. He landed with a yelp. Of course Thor hadn’t tried to catch him or lighten his fall.

"Ow..." Snotlout moaned pitifully. He just wanted to cry. What did Thor want with him now? He was aching from his mistreatment, his face bruised from the hard blow he'd received earlier. He didn't want to be in this situation, and what was worse, the whole thing was his fault for messing up the hypnotization. He shouldn't have summoned Thor Bonecrusher again. He should have just been content with Fishlegs. Fishlegs really wasn't all that bad. Why did Snotlout want this guy above him?

"Look how pathetic you are," Thor sneered.

"Hey, don't call me that!" Snotlout struggled to his feet, turning to face him. Fear accelerated his pulse. Fishlegs was so much bigger than him, so of course Thor was too, but Fishlegs was never intimidating due to his size. He was never intimidating at all. Thor, on the other hand, was a different story. There was cruelty in those green eyes that Snotlout was used to seeing empathy in.

"I'll call you what I want."

Snotlout blew out a sharp breath through his nose, lips pursed. "What do you want? I thought I gave you everything already."

Thor smirked in a way that Fishlegs never had, and it turned Snotlout's stomach. "Not quite." He came close, close enough to touch him, and he did that, grabbed him by the waist, and Snotlout yelped as he was pulled up against him. "Did you have fun taking my cock last night?"

The only thing Snotlout had to be grateful for was that Thor's voice sounded different from Fishlegs'. The accent and pitch were different. That was good, because Snotlout wouldn't have been able to stand hearing these words in Fishlegs' voice.

"I... I don't want..." He now knew what Thor planned on doing with him, what he planned on getting from him, but he didn't know how to voice his protest. He felt so small, so stupid and weak.

"Doesn't matter."

Suddenly, Thor spun him around, threw him onto the hard, rocky ground, making Snotlout scrape his bound hands, and probably even his knees through his pants. He tried to get up, but then Thor was straddling him, holding him down with one hand on his back.

"Now, I don't care if this hurts you. If it does, all the more fun for me."

Snotlout couldn't handle this. He was about to be raped by someone in Fishlegs' body that was definitely  _ not _ Fishlegs.

"Help!" He didn't know why he yelled it. He was captured in enemy territory. He tried clapping, but his hands were tied too tightly for him to move them. "Help me!"

Thor laughed, and it was a cold, sadistic sound that raised the hairs on the back of Snotlout's neck. "You think you're going to get help in here, little man? All the guards will probably do if they come is watch."

"No! No, no!" Snotlout squirmed, but Thor was so much heavier than him, and the movement was pointless. He screamed in terror as his pants were yanked down and he felt a huge hand on his ass. "Don't do this! Please!"

"I'll do what I wish with you." His voice was so terribly calm, so cruel, and Snotlout felt tears brimming in his eyes. He couldn't believe this was happening to him. This was something that he only heard about, that happened to  _ other _ people, not  _ him _ . Certainly not him.

A thick finger at his rim. Thor shoved it in without any type of lubricant, and gods did that burn! Snotlout yelled. Thorn wasn't slow or easy about it, did it rough and quickly till he was fully sheathed. Snotlout was crying now. Blood seeped from his palms, his knees, and now the part of him that Thor had so painfully entered without his willingness or consent.

"I do hope your blood will do nicely," Thor commented. "Don't want to end up hurting myself after all."

"Stop! Stop it!"

Thor curled his finger, found his prostate easily. He already knew where it was from the night before, when he'd bent Snotlout over a table and fucked him till he feared he wouldn't be able to walk the day after. It had been good, so good, but this wasn't. This hurt like all Hel, and he just wanted him to stop.

Snotlout moaned, arched into him without meaning to, and Thor laughed at him. "This should be fun since I already know your body, Snotlout. I'll have you cum for me."

"No, no, no," he whimpered. Pleasure was rocketing through his body, the pain riding right along with it. He didn't understand these mix of sensations, not to this extent.

A second finger suddenly stretched him, easily pulled a shriek from his throat. Fishlegs had extremely large fingers, and Thor was using them without mercy.

"Oh gods! Oh Thor!"

"That is my name. Will you yell it for me?"

"Go to Niflheim! Get out of Fishlegs' head!"

"This is  _ my _ head! This is  _ my _ body! Fishlegs is  _ dead! _ "

Those words made Snotlout go slack, stop his struggling. He knew it wasn't true. He knew that if he simply clapped three times, Fishlegs would come back, and then he'd never summon Thor again. He'd make sure no one ever talked about Thor, that no one ever found out to try to use him again. 

Then again, maybe he was dead. Snotlout couldn't clap, and as long as he was Thor's prisoner, he wouldn't be able to. He suddenly got the horrible, lurching fear that if he didn't get out of this place soon, Thor would see fit to cut off his hands. Then Fishlegs truly would be dead.

Thor fingered him roughly, and Snotlout just shouted and sobbed. Occasionally he would jab at his prostate much too hard, and that hurt at the same time it was working to make his cock harden underneath him. He just wanted this to be over. Maybe if he just shut his eyes and pretended to be somewhere else, time would pass quicker.

Hookfang. He was riding on Hookfang. Breeze against his face and in his hair, the smell of the ocean around him. He was with his friends, his lovers. He'd slept with each of them before. The Dragon Riders were all in a relationship with each other, and he loved each of them very much, though he had never said it. Maybe now was the time to say it. Yes, when he'd been hypnotizing Fishlegs, he'd said that only three claps from himself could bring him back, but maybe emotions could bring him back like they had the last time. Fear for Meatlug had brought him back, and that fear was born of love. Maybe love could bring him back.

Thor withdrew his fingers, and Snotlout felt his length pressing against him. He had to do it now.

" _ Fishlegs _ ," he sobbed. "Fishlegs, please. I love you. I love you. I know you're still in there. Don't do this."

"Do not make me gag you." That wasn't Fishlegs.

"No!  _ Ple-ease! _ Come  _ back _ , Fishlegs! Don't let him do this to me! I love you! You hear me?! I'm saying it! I'm finally saying it! I! Love! You!”

Thor suddenly slapped a hand over his mouth, and, had this been anyone else, Snotlout would have bitten him, but no matter what Thor said, this body belonged to Fishlegs, and Snotlout couldn't hurt him. He shoved himself into him, and Snotlout let out a muffled scream against his palm at the pain of the stretching. He wondered how much blood there was.

_ Fishlegs, stop, stop, stop. Make him stop. Come rescue me. _

Those were just his thoughts though, and he couldn't clap, so Fishlegs didn't appear to save him from this torment.

Thor used his body hard, but his thrusts were well-placed, spurring a tumultuous mixture of pleasure and pain that set his body on fire. Snotlout lost himself to the sensations, to what was happening, his thoughts nothing but useless begging. His tears wet Thor's hand and his voice was released as pained screams into it. Still, despite everything, Thor knew his body. Fishlegs knew his body. And so he came, hard, shaking underneath him. Thor wasn't done with him though, kept going even once Snotlout was finished, and that just had him screaming louder at the oversensitivity. It hurt, it hurt! He cried harder now. He just wanted Fishlegs back. Fishlegs wouldn't be doing this to him. Only Thor had the ability to do this. Fishlegs would never. Fishlegs was sweet and kind and caring, always cared about his consent and his boundaries when they had sex. Fishlegs would never rape someone.

Snotlout was sickened by this entire ordeal. In a way, Fishlegs was being raped too. He had no control of his body, no control or say in this. Thor was using his body like this without his permission.

_ I'm sorry, Fishlegs! I'm sorry! _ This was all Snotlout's fault. He knew it was, and he desperately wished he could go back to the night before and not hypnotize him. He should have just stuck with Fishlegs. Fishlegs was great, and he'd been much too stupid to see it.

Finally, Thor finished with a grunt and a sigh, and Snotlout felt even more violated for the fact that it was in him. He released his mouth, pulled out of him, and Snotlout was allowed to sob into open air. Thor was laughing, and Snotlout knew that it was at him. He stood off of him, and there were footsteps like he was going to retrieve something. Then a towel swatted him in the ass, making him yelp.

"Clean yourself up," Thor snarled, letting the towel fall over him. "Well, as best you can with your hands tied. We'll be seeing your friends again, and I'm sure you don't want them knowing what happened." Thor got close, ran bloodied fingers through his sweat-soaked hair. Snotlout could only tremble. His voice lowered with his next words, almost a whisper. "Especially not when it was your fault."

Then, Thor left, and the cell door clanged shut behind him. Snotlout didn't move for a long while, the pain still wracking his body, his heart and soul. He'd just been raped by someone using Fishlegs' body. Fishlegs had just been raped too. And Thor was right. This was  _ his _ fault. This was all his fault.

He didn't move to attempt to clean himself off until his tears had run dry.

  
  


"Snotlout, he didn't hurt you, did he?" Hiccup asked as they were flying back to the Edge later that night. It was more than uncomfortable sitting on Hookfang, but Snotlout hadn't shown it. He couldn't let his friends know what had happened. He especially couldn't let Fishlegs know. He couldn't even remember the whole thing. It would be unfair to him to let him know about all that, to let him know about the desecration that had befallen both of them because of his own stupidity.

"No, Hiccup, I'm fine," Snotlout assured him. He looked over at Fishlegs. He couldn't help it, but he was flying farther away from him than usual. He didn't want to be near him. Thor had smelled exactly like him, and now his scent was stuck in his nose. He'd felt exactly like him too. Snotlout had intimately known the body that had ruined his, which had only made the whole thing worse. No, he definitely couldn't be near Fishlegs right now. "Just tired. Gonna go to sleep when we get back."

"You don't want dinner first?" Fishlegs asked. "I could cook something."

"No, no, I'm fine." Snotlout waved a hand dismissively. "The rest of you guys eat. I'm okay. Honest."

The rest of the Dragon Riders just looked at him, but didn't say anything. Snotlout couldn't tell if they believed him or not. He hoped they did. He prayed to Thor - the real Thor, the God of Thunder, not the man that had defiled him - that they did.

  
  


Snotlout was overjoyed that Fishlegs was back, but he stayed far away from him. Fishlegs tried to talk to him, hug him, kiss him, but Snotlout wouldn’t allow any of that unless they were in a room with someone else. He made extra sure to not be left alone with him.

Logically, the whole thing was ridiculous. It wasn’t Fishlegs who had hurt him. It was Thor Bonecrusher. But, the part of him that felt fear was illogical, and it felt fear at the sight of him. His fear couldn’t tell the difference between Thor and Fishlegs.

Fishlegs was clearly hurt by this, but Snotlout didn’t know what to do about it. He couldn’t possibly tell him. That would hurt him more than he was hurting now. Snotlout had made the decision for him that it was better to be held at a distance than knowing that your body was used to rape one of your best friends.

The rest of the Dragon Riders had noticed, but hadn’t said anything, not until Hiccup had now. They were in his hut, and Snotlout was glad for the privacy.

“Snotlout, what’s going on with you and Fishlegs?” Hiccup was leaning against Snotlout’s table with his arms folded. “You’ve hardly spoken a word to him since the Thor Bonecrusher incident.”

“I just… feel bad, Hiccup.” At least Snotlout could be honest about that. He wasn’t about to tell Hiccup what had happened though. “The whole thing was my fault.”

Hiccup sighed. “It was,” he said solemnly. “But the whole thing worked out in the end. Fishlegs forgave you for it, and we forgave you for it. No one got hurt, so it’s okay.”

Snotlout wanted to laugh, but he kept it in.  _ No one got hurt. Yeah, sure, Hiccup. Keep telling yourself that.  _ There was no way he knew of course, but right now it almost felt like he was rubbing it in his face. Though, Snotlout knew just how to shut him up about this entire situation.

“Yeah, you’re right.”

“So, you and Fishlegs? You gonna make up with him?”

Snotlout went over to Hiccup, lightly put his hands on his waist. He looked up at him. “I was thinking of making up with you first.”

“But, Snotlout, you already apologized to me.”

“Doesn’t mean I can’t do it in a better way.” Snotlout stood on his tiptoes and kissed Hiccup. There. He was bound to drop the conversation now.

Hiccup hummed against his mouth, returned his kiss and his embrace. He was so gentle, and Snotlout liked that. He hadn’t had sex since Thor Bonecrusher, admitted to himself that he was honestly afraid to, but Hiccup was always careful and loving during it. Maybe this could erase the feeling of Thor’s touch that plagued him constantly, especially when he was alone at night.

He and Hiccup made out slowly, and Hiccup cupped his face, ran fingers through his hair. Snotlout returned the motion, tugging on Hiccup’s hair a little to show that he wanted more than a makeout session. He thrusted his hips against Hiccup’s, loving the feeling of him growing hard through his pants, because it was Hiccup’s cock, not Thor’s or Fishlegs’. He could do this… right?

Snotlout was fine while he and Hiccup undressed each other. He was fine when he got on his knees and sucked Hiccup’s cock. He was fine when they touched each other and kissed each other’s bodies. He was fine up until Hiccup had him on the floor on his hands and knees, and he was about to finger him before taking him.

“Wait! Wait, wait!” Snotlout jumped up, quickly grabbed at his pants and covered his front, turning to face Hiccup, who was just kneeling on the ground, blinking in surprise at the sudden motion.

“Snotlout, what is it?” He stood, didn’t bother grabbing clothes of his own, and Snotlout’s breath quickened. He was going to take him without his consent, hold him down, ra- No. No he wasn’t. This was Hiccup. That was crazy. So crazy. Hiccup would never do that. 

“I, uh…” Snotlout rubbed at one ear. How was he going to explain himself? Then, he just decided that he should tell the truth. “I got scared.”

“Scared? But, Snotlout, we’ve done this before. Were you scared the other times too?” Now Hiccup got an incredibly worried look on his face. “You could have told me to stop all those other times if you didn’t want me to do it!” He pulled at his hair in distress, paced a little, and Snotlout didn’t want him feeling this way, feeling like he’d done anything wrong. He hadn’t. Snotlout had. He was in the wrong for summoning Thor Bonecrusher. He’d practically called his own rape upon himself.

“Hiccup, relax. It’s not anything you did.” Snotlout held out a hand to get him to stop moving. “I was fine all those other times. Promise.”

Hiccup turned back to him, brow furrowed in confusion. “But you’re not fine now.” It was a statement, not a question, but Snotlout shook his head in answer anyway. He pulled on his pants, then looked down at the floor. Realizing that the mood was dead, that this wasn’t going to happen, Hiccup also put on his pants.

Snotlout sat down hard by the fireplace, and Hiccup sat beside him. He laid a hand on his knee.

“Snotlout, what happened?” he asked softly. “What’s wrong?”

“You know how I keep telling you that Thor didn’t hurt me?” Snotlout asked. He didn’t know why this was coming out of him so easily. He thought it would be difficult, thought that he would choke on his words. Maybe it was because he’d kept them inside for weeks now and all they wanted to do was come out of him.

“Yeah.”

“Well-” Snotlout shrugged- “I lied.”

“What? Why? What did he do to you?” Hiccup leaned closer, making the space even more private and intimate even though it had just been the two of them to begin with.

"He, um..." Snotlout's mouth had gone dry. The word was in his head, on his tongue, but he couldn't make it come out of him. "He..."

Hiccup just waited. He probably knew what was going on by now given Snotlout's reluctance to say it and what he'd told Hiccup he was afraid of, but he didn't say anything, giving him time to do this. Snotlout was grateful for that.

Tears stung in his eyes and he tried blinking them away, but they fell. He wiped at them, frustrated that he was crying, glad that his father couldn't see him.  _ "Jorgensons don't cry," _ he always said.  _ "Crying is for the weak. Jorgensons aren't weak. _ " But here Snotlout was, crying, and he did feel weak for it.

"He raped me," he finally got out, his words little more than a whisper. Suddenly, it was like he couldn't support himself anymore, like emotion was pummeling him hard in the chest, trying to knock him over, and he fell forward into Hiccup's waiting arms, pressed his head against his naked chest, and sobbed.

"Oh gods, Snotlout, you should have said something." Hiccup stroked at his hair. His voice was pained, like he was hurting from this as well, which, knowing Hiccup and his empathy, he probably was. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." He kissed him on the top of the head, still caressing his hair, his other hand rubbing soothingly over his back.

For a long while neither of them spoke, and Snotlout just cried, shoving down all those things his father had said about crying, because he had to cry. There was no way around it, and he hadn't cried since it had happened. He'd been keeping it all in and to himself, trying to act fine, to act normal, but he wasn't fine, and he was finally admitting it to someone else.

They didn't move for a while when Snotlout's tears finally ran out. Then Hiccup gently asked: "Can I kiss you? Would that maybe help a little?"

Snotlout gave a small smile, lifted his head. "Of course, Hiccup. He didn't do that. It's okay."

Hiccup kissed him carefully, and Snotlout felt his pain and caring through it. He was glad Hiccup had asked first as well, though Hiccup almost always had his consent for a kiss. It was important for him right now though to be asked, because Thor had just taken, hadn't asked at all. Even if he had and had gotten a no, he would have done it anyway. He saw no point in asking.

_ But Thor's gone, _ Snotlout assured himself.  _ He's gone, he's gone. _

Snotlout wished his fear knew that, wished that his feelings could tell the difference between Thor and Fishlegs. Fishlegs would never hurt another living thing, while Thor had.

Hiccup pulled away, brushed tears away from his cheek. 

"So this is why you've been avoiding Fishlegs," Hiccup reasoned, to which Snotlout nodded. "Does he know?"

"No," Snotlout responded. "I don't... I don't want him to. It wouldn't be fair to him to know that his body was used for something like that. I mean, he technically got raped too, Hiccup, and I don't want him to know that. It'll only hurt him."

Hiccup sighed, cupped Snotlout's cheek. "Snotlout, keeping secrets is never a good thing. It'll probably come out eventually, somehow, and he'll wonder why you never said anything, and it'll just become more of a mess."

Snotlout clenched his jaw. Hiccup was right and he knew it, but he didn't want him to be right. He didn't want to have to tell Fishlegs what Thor had done to him.

"Dammit, Hiccup, why are you always right?" he muttered. 

"Hey, I'm not always right," Hiccup said. "I'm just trying to help is all."

Snotlout leaned his head back on his chest, comforted by his heart thrumming underneath his ear. "I know you are. And I know I have to tell him, but I'm afraid to hurt him."

"I can be there if you like," Hiccup said. "And no one else has to know until you're ready. Hel, no one else ever has to know unless you want them to. It's all up to you, Snotlout, but this one thing at least has to be done. Fishlegs has to know."

Snotlout tried to take deep breaths to fend off the anxiety that was burning in his stomach and tightening his muscles. "I know. I'll..." It was so hard to say. "I'll do it. And yeah, it'd be nice if you were with me."

"And it should be done as soon as possible."

_ Dammit. _ Snotlout wanted to hold it off for as long as possible, but that wasn't a good idea. This had to come out. He had to tell the truth.

"I'll do it tonight. Me, you, and Fishlegs can meet in your hut. No dragons." It was going to be emotional and Snotlout didn't want the dragons reacting badly to that and even possibly hurting someone by accident.

"You got it." Hiccup held him tight. "I'm here for you, Snotlout. I'm here for all of you."

  
  


Fishlegs didn't know why he, Hiccup, and Snotlout were meeting in Hiccup's hut, and specifically without their dragons. Did it have something to do with how strange Snotlout had been acting around him lately? Fishlegs did want an answer for that, and maybe he was going to get one. As far as he could remember, he hadn't done anything out of the ordinary, hadn't hurt Snotlout in anyway, so he wanted to know what the problem was.

_ Or maybe it's just another mission, knowing Hiccup, _ he thought glumly. Maybe he'd only get answers if he approached Snotlout himself, which he'd done before, but Snotlout had always said that nothing was wrong and that everything was fine.

Fishlegs sat, crossing his arms. Snotlout was standing, leaning against the wall, looking stressed. Hiccup was beside him. Maybe Fishlegs had indeed done something wrong. Nerves prickled hot at his skin.

"Is everything okay? Did I do something wrong?"

Snotlout and Hiccup exchanged looks that Fishlegs couldn't read.

"Um..." Snotlout rubbed his toes on the floor. "It's not anything  _ you _ did."

_ What? _ Fishlegs didn't speak though, sure that he was soon going to get an explanation.

"It's Thor Bonecrusher," Snotlout said.

"Guys, I told you, we're done with him." Fishlegs was a little angry that his friends were bringing this up, and he was beginning to feel used. "I thought you would have learned that after what happened the last time."

Hiccup held out a hand. "No, no. Trust me, we don't want Thor Bonecrusher back. Ever again. You're wonderful Fishlegs. That's... not what this is about."

"Then what is this about?" He looked between Snotlout and Hiccup, but neither of them said anything. "Guys, come on. You brought me here for a reason, so just tell me."

Hiccup lightly nudged Snotlout with his elbow. "You should tell him. It's not mine to say."

"But I don't-"

Hiccup put a hand on Snotlout's shoulder, the movement cutting him off. "You can do this, Snotlout."

_ Oh Thor, oh Thor. _ The nerves had started a boiling in his stomach. What was wrong? What had happened? What did this have to do with Thor Bonecrusher and himself?

"Thor... hurt me," Snotlout told him. "While he had me captured. Pretty badly."

Fishlegs bolted up from the chair. "Wait, w _ hat? _ " Guilt took a knife to his chest, began cutting a hole into him.

"Yeah, he uh..." Snotlout put his face in his hands, and Hiccup just wrapped an arm around him. "He..." Snotlout said something else, but it was mumbled, quiet, and Fishlegs didn't hear it.

"What?" he asked, terrified of what he had missed.

Snotlout looked up at him, tears in his eyes, and his stricken expression nearly had Fishlegs stumbling backwards.

"He raped me," he told him, a quiver in his voice.

Guilt replaced the knife with a hammer, hit Fishlegs hard, knocking him down onto his knees. His breath came out of him like he'd actually been hit in the chest, and for a while he forgot how to breathe, to make air move in and out of his lungs. He didn't quite know what he was feeling. 

But then he was crying, crying hard, spluttering out rushed apologies, over and over. Guilt kept on chiseling away at him, widening the hole in his chest.

Hiccup came over, sat down on the floor, and Fishlegs collapsed under the weight of what had been done with his body, head landing in Hiccup's lap. Once there he didn't say anything, just cried as hard and loud as he possibly could. Thor Bonecrusher had hurt Snotlout.  _ He'd _ hurt Snotlout. They were one and the same weren't they? Thor had used his body to do it. Odin, Fishlegs felt so  _ violated! _ To know that his body had been used to hurt someone - hurt his boyfriend, his friend, his lover - like that without anyone's consent, not even his own, was agony like nothing he'd ever felt before. He felt like cracks were forming in him, running deeper and deeper until he would eventually break.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" he yelled out once he could find the breath to. "I'm so  _ sorry-y-y! _ "

"Fishlegs, it's not your fault." Hiccup's voice was soft and soothing, and he was running a hand through his hair. "It's not your fault. Just let it out, okay?"

Fishlegs was glad that Hiccup didn't shush him, that he didn't tell him to breathe or calm down. Fishlegs couldn't do any of that right now, and he would have just ended up feeling anger on top of everything else had he been told to. Hiccup was good like that. He was bad at letting out his own emotions, but he always let others express theirs. He was a shoulder to lean on, an arm to hold you up, and currently, a lap to cry in and fingers stroking pleasantly through hair.

After a time, Fishlegs was able to quiet, but he didn't move from where he was, and Snotlout came and crouched beside them.

"Look, Fishlegs. If it's anyone's fault, it's mine."

"Don't you dare," Hiccup snapped at him. "Don't you dare say that was your fault. It was the fault of Thor Bonecrusher, and he's gone now. He's gone forever. Snotlout, it wasn't your fault, and Fishlegs, it wasn't your fault either."

"But I chose to summon him in the first place," Snotlout protested.

"But you didn't choose for that to happen to you," Hiccup said. "No one does. It's no one's fault when that happens. Ever."

Snotlout was silent, and Fishlegs opened his eyes to just see him lower his head in defeat and nod. He was going to have to accept what Hiccup said, and Fishlegs supposed he was too. He was telling him that it wasn't his fault, and he guessed it really wasn't. He'd had no control over himself, his thoughts, his body. Someone else had been in him, pulling all the strings, making all the calls, and he'd made the wrong one.

Fishlegs pushed himself up from Hiccup's lap, knelt. He wanted to hug Snotlout, but he didn't know if it was okay. Though, before he could ask, Snotlout was rushing him in a hug of his own, and Fishlegs returned it.

"I'm sorry I've been avoiding you, Fishlegs," Snotlout told him. "I don't blame you for this. Not at all. It's just... hard. My fear can't tell the difference between you and Thor."

"I understand, Snotlout." Fishlegs had it in himself to smile a little when Snotlout rested his head against his shoulder. "I'm not mad at you."

"Oh, thank Thor," Snotlout breathed. "You know, the one with the lightning."

Fishlegs chuckled. "Yeah. Definitely that one." He squeezed him tight for a few seconds. "Thank you for telling me." He pulled away, held Snotlout at arm's length. "I was wondering if I'd done something wrong to push you away from me."

Snotlout sniffled, rubbed at his eyes. "You're Fishlegs. You can't ever do anything to hurt someone."

Hiccup cleared his throat a little to get their attention. Fishlegs had almost forgotten that he was there.

“Do you need me to give you two some privacy?”

Snotlout and Fishlegs looked to each other, then both nodded. 

“Alright.” Hiccup stood, went over to the door. Before he left he turned back to them. “I just want to let you know that I love both of you, and that I’m here for you if you need me. I’ll just be right outside.”

“Thank you, Hiccup,” Fishlegs said. He released Snotlout, wiped at his face, then made him put on a smile to show his gratitude. Snotlout also thanked him.

Snotlout and Fishlegs were silent for a while after the door closed behind Hiccup. Fishlegs sat, wiped at his face again, trying to gather his composure.

“You missed something good too as Thor,” Snotlout said. 

Fishlegs looked at him in confusion. “I did?”

“Yeah.” Snotlout blushed a little, “I finally said that I loved you.”

Fishlegs knew what a big step that was for Snotlout. He’d been raised not to show his emotions, not to show tenderness towards others, but he had.

“To get me back?” Fishlegs asked.

“Yeah.” Snotlout closed his eyes for a moment, breathed deeply, like he was trying not to cry. “And it didn’t work.”

“I’m here now, Snotlout.” Fishlegs laid a hand on his shoulder. “I’ll always be here. Thor’s gone for good and he can’t hurt you again, and I promise that  _ I’ll _ never hurt you.”

Snotlout looked at him with tears sparkling in his eyes, smiled.

“And, if it means anything, I love you too, Snotlout.”

It must have meant something, because suddenly, Snotlout came forward and kissed him.


End file.
